


How Sweet It Was Back Then

by orphan_account



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Post Bartlett Administration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-04-07
Updated: 2001-04-07
Packaged: 2019-05-15 18:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Toby remembers a day that was happy, but in the intervening years has become sad for him.





	How Sweet It Was Back Then

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

 

Disclaimers: The West Wing and it's characters are the  
property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers and NBC. No  
copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being  
made from this. The song "Rose Bouquet" is the  
property of Phil Vassar and Arista Nashville. It was  
written by Phil Vassar and Robert Byrne. No copyright  
infringement is intended here either.

Rating: G

Summary: Toby remembers a day that was happy, but in  
the intervening years has become sad for him.

  


We were somethin' you and me  
Yeah we had 'em rollin' in the aisles  
We got it right once, didn't we  
We had our shot and missed it by a mile  
Forget the bitter end  
Can you remember when

He walked into the apartment and set his briefcase  
down. He looked around the still darkened apartment.  
He had always heard that it was a sign your house was  
a home, if you didn't need the lights on to find your  
way around it. He didn't need a single light to find  
his way through the apartment, but he turned one on  
anyway. This day was never an easy one for him, today  
he and Andi would have been married ten years.

He didn't know why he let it cross his mind, but Toby  
had been thinking about their wedding all day. He  
picked up a framed photo. He didn't have to look at it  
to know what it was, he and Andi on their wedding day.  
It almost hurt to think about how happy they had been  
on that day. He closed his eyes and could almost  
picture them dancing at the wedding.

We sang, we laughed  
They all watched us dance  
They circled around us  
And toasted to forever  
We played to win  
We never gave in  
And we threw it all away  
Like your rose bouquet

He could remember holding her tightly in his arms at  
their wedding reception. Toby wondered if he had even  
been as happy as he was then, or if he would be as  
happy again. He looked at the wedding band, which was  
still on his finger. He had not taken it off since the  
day Andi had slipped it on his finger, not even during  
the five intervening years since their divorce. It was  
ironic that he had worn the ring as a divorced man,  
almost as long as he had worn it as a married man. He  
twisted it around on his finger. Maybe the timing was  
a sign, maybe it was finally time to take the ring  
off.

Passion flows like a long white gown  
But it ain't easy to keep your love alive  
We hoped each other would come around  
We'll use the lessons for better luck next time  
But how sweet it was back then  
Do you remember when

For awhile, they had been very happy. Then things had  
started to change. They had started to fight more  
often, and the fights were lasting longer. They had  
tried to work it out, but in the end that hadn't  
worked. Toby and Andi finally decided it wasn't  
working, and it would be better to end the marriage.  
He could only hope they both had learned from the  
experience. It seemed that Andi had, but he wondered  
if he had learned anything.

We sang, we laughed  
They all watched us dance  
They circled around us  
And toasted to forever  
We played to win  
We never gave in  
And we threw it all away  
Like your rose bouquet

He was putting everything into a box. Maybe it was  
time to pack the memories up. It was perhaps time to  
move on. He looked at each photo as he put it away.  
Once he had finished with them Toby took an envelope  
out of the box. He starred at the ring on his finger.  
He wondered if he would be able to take it off. It had  
been on his finger for so long. It was completely  
possible that it would be stuck on his finger. He  
pulled slowly at it. It wasn't easy, but eventually  
the ring came off. He rolled in around in his finger  
for several minutes. It was strange not to feel the  
ring on his finger. He was certain he would get used  
to it's absence, just as he had gotten used to it's  
presence. Toby dropped the ring in the envelope and  
then placed the envelope in the box. He put the box in  
the back of the highest shelf in one of the closets.  
It was time for him to move on.

The end.


End file.
